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Lulu Ge lives and breathes the mantra “food as thy medicine.”
Growing up with a grandfather who ran a hospital in Henan, Ge was very familiar with holistic healing. It wasn’t until adulthood, however, when she ran into her own hormonal issues, that Ge re-centered her life around it. Ge founded Elix during COVID as the first platform that personalizes Chinese herbal medicine to support root cause healing of women’s hormone health conditions. The hero product, Cycle Balance, is a tailored blend of time-tested herbs that holistically supports women’s cycle patterns.
The Dietary Change That Brought My Energy Back
Going “flexitarian” turned food into fuel again — and helped me fight fatigueThe success of Cycle Balance led to Elix’s rapid expansion into immunity, and products suited for every body. The Immunity Duo — Get Well and Stay Well — markets itself as the world’s first organically sourced blend of clinically proven, immune-strengthening herbs. The ingredients span from licorice and mint, to those you may have never heard of but are commonly regarded in Chinese herbal traditions, like angelica sinensis and skullcap. We know what you’re probably thinking: These must taste disgusting, right? Quite the opposite. “We stabilize everything in organic glycerin, so that’s what gives it the sweet taste, even though it’s sugar-free,” Ge explains.
The simple effectiveness of Elix’s products led to more releases:
- GingerAide, a potent serving of boiled-down ginger that became a hit among parents giving it to their kids
- Daily Harmony, a stress-releasing mood stabilizer I personally now take every morning. “A lot of women in our community, they kind of microdose it in their partner’s morning coffee if they notice they’ve been a little on edge lately,” says Ge. Incredible.
- Yin Time, an “un-wine down” relaxant to take before bed (when I took this for the first time, I slept for 12 hours — I can’t remember the last time I slept that well. Take with this what you will).
The magic of these products is that they get to work instantly. Each product comes in a two-ounce bottle with a dropper to mix into water, your favorite beverage or to squeeze directly into your mouth. I made a cocktail of Get Well and GingerAide every day to beat a bad cold as soon as it started, and the effects were significantly reduced after just a couple of days (the worst of my symptoms are typically gone after four or five, sometimes even a week).
Our favorite at InsideHook, though, has to be the Herbal Digestif, which helps with indigestion. It’s recommended you take it before a meal (I often forget and take it right after, and it works just as well). You’ll never go for a Tums ever again.
I needed to know more on the difference between a store-bought drug and Elix.
Elix’s Chinese Herbal Medicine Blends vs. Over-the-Counters
The secret to Elix’s wizardry? Pure, simple boiled-down ingredients. “The problem with a lot of OTC options,” Ge explains, “is they’re just a band-aid solution. They mask the symptom temporarily, but it’s not helping your body in any way at the root cause. Take the Herbal Digestif, for example — the main ingredient is hawthorn berries. Hawthorn berries not only help with digestion and breaking down food stagnation, but it also helps with blood circulation, from a Western medicine perspective. It’s a great anti-inflammatory. It has Vitamin C and antioxidants. So it’s nourishing your body as it’s also helping with the symptoms.”
In addition to Elix’s products being more potent and less processed than over-the-counter medicines, they can also be layered (in the morning, you could combine Daily Harmony, Get Well and even Ginger Aide, for example) without issue. And, because it’s made of real food, there’s no worry of “overdosing.” “The way we think about it is like, could someone overdose on blueberries? Probably, but you would be eating them for a couple of days,” clarifies Ge.
“The whole point of Chinese medicine is to help you tune in and listen to the signs and signals from your body and then give yourself what you need based on that information,” says Ge. “We have a team of doctors of Chinese medicine that can also do one-on-one virtual consults. We’re really trying to make Chinese medicine more accessible.”
Is It Worth It?
Ge’s goal is to replace your aging, tired medicine cabinet with Elix. Whether you or a loved one are looking for a health-revamp, we can’t recommend Elix enough.
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